The Cat's Meow
by Bakaneko-chan11
Summary: Found sobbing out in the cold one night, a young girl sets out to prove to her former master that he shouldn't have abandoned her. Will this girl succeed in proving him wrong? Or will she decide that she wants a different kind of attention? What if she realizes that all she's ever wanted was a friend? Can she decide? Replaced Kakashi with Fem-OC. M for violence and language
1. Chapter 1

Firstly, apologies on deleting the other two fics, but my friend was the brains behind those two. I'm usually her bouncing board for stories since we both love Naruto and Final Fantasy, but she was too nervous to post her own stuff, so she e-mailed it to me and I posted it. She and I had a falling out recently, so, no more of those stories, from this profile at least. Anyways, this is a more action oriented type of fic, with romance taking the backburner in it, mainly because I'm not sure I want the main character paired with anyone at all. There is going to be fluff and stuff, but it's not going to be romantic in nature, more like family fluff, if that's even a thing... Not entirely sure... Sorry if that doesn't float your boat, and I won't blame all of you who already follow me if you unfollow me. I'd probably do the same, honestly. Anyways, here's the prologue for The Cat's Meow! Tehe! I know it's lame, but it get's me every time! Enjoy!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Prologue

It was winter time in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves, that fact only proven by the light dusting of snow covering the ground, slowly being built up by a continuous, but light, drizzle of snowflakes. At this time, mostly everyone in the village was indoors, and the majority were asleep, seeing as it's only just passed midnight. One person, however, has no home to speak of, having been abandoned by her supposed sensei, Orochimaru of the Sannin, in favor of taking Anko Mitarashi with him. Now, most people would wonder why she thought this was a bad thing, but only until you saw her. This girl is not a normal girl, having been one of Orochimaru's favorite test subjects, even being used to test out an early version of his curse mark. As a result, the young girl, who is no older than eight years of age, is entirely covered from head to toe in short blue fur, with pointed and decidedly felid ears on top of her head, as opposed to the sides like normal. Her remaining body parts are mostly human, with the exception of a set of retractable claws on her right hand. She has a decidedly short stature, even for her age, and she is very thin from years of getting only the bare-minimum of food and water. Her face is round, with a slightly misshapened nose and small whiskers poking out of her cheeks, although they aren't very noticeable.

Currently, she is kneeling in an alleyway covered in snow and sobbing while holding a piece of clothing against her right eye, covering a slice that starts at her eyebrow and goes straight to her cheek bone, splitting the surface of the eye as well as the lid and skin around it, a last 'parting gift' from Orochimaru. Little did either the girl or Orochimaru know, that parting gift awakened something he could only dream of. With the combination of the very rare Shakuton (scorch release) bloodline that the girl was born with, and the injections of the cells of the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and then the curse mark experiments, along with replacing her right eye with a Byakugan from the Hyuuga clan before destroying it, and the trauma of being attacked and abandoned by the only person who ever showed her any interest, good or bad, this little girl has just unlocked a Doujutsu thought to be a myth before now. But enough of that, let's watch this little girl's story unfold.

'Otou-sama... Why did you leave me? Was I not strong enough? Is that why you picked that bean girl?[1] Maybe... Maybe if I got stronger...'

"Hey, what are you doing out here?! You'll catch a cold!"

'Otou-sama... I've decided. I'm going to train. I'll become the strongest ninja in the world, and then maybe you'll take me back!'

"Hey! Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

The girl is suddenly pulled from her brooding by a small hand touching her shoulder. Before she could even think, she grabbed the hand and pulled the person over her shoulder, throwing them a few feet away to land in a heap. The girl then put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Ah, oh no! I didn't mean to! It just happened!"

The heap of a person groaned as they sat up, revealing a slightly older, four years older to be exact, girl with brown hair cut into a chin length bob that framed her face. She had brown eyes, and rectangular purple markings on either side of her face, centered on her cheeks. She was currently wearing a giant poofy white jacket and some black shinobi pants that were tucked into thick boots. She pouted at the girl, then gasped as she finally got a good look at her. The girl was now standing, and was no longer covered in snow. This, however, revealed the dark grey tank top she was wearing, with a chunk from the bottom currently being used to stem the bloodflow from her eye, and a pair of cargo shorts. Not exactly the warmest clothing... The snow falling off also revealed something a little more important, that she was not a normal girl. Said not normal girl was now standing in front of the ex-projectile. "Are you alwight?" She said with a grin so big it forced her eyes to close.

The brunette eyed the girl for a minute before finally standing up. She looked over the much smaller girl, and then hesitantly held out her hand.

"My name's Nohara Rin."

The other girl looked down at her hand with a look of utter befuddlement, which in turn revealed her eye, causing the girl to gasp and lean in closer to look at it. "It's so pretty... How is your eye so... Purple? And why does it have rings?"

The girl looked up at Rin, then tilted her head. "Purple? Wings? My eyes are bwown... And I don't think they have wings..."

The brunette looked some more, then frowned and stood up straight, holding her hand out again. "Okay, I already introduced myself, it's only polite if you do the same."

The girl tilted her head, then nodded slightly. "Ah... Dango." The girl said, which was followed by the stiffest bow known to the history of history. After said bow, she immediately turned away and started walking briskly out of the alleyway. Rin stood there for a few seconds, then frowned.

"Hey, get back here! I wasn't done talking to you!" She yells, then jogs to catch up with the... Cat girl, for lack of a better term... And slows to match her pace when she does, with a scowl on her face. "That wasn't very nice..."

"It wasn't supposed to be nice." The 'bluenette' says with a scoff.

Rin's scowl turns into a full blown glare, and she 'hmph's' and turns her head away. "I was going to ask if you wanted to be my friend, but with that attitude, I'm not sure I want you to."

Dango stops and stares at Rin. "Fwiend? I don't need fwiends. I need power. Fwiends only get in the way." She says with no small amount of disdain, then continues walking through the snow in the general direction of the hospital, leaving a gaping Rin behind, until she shakes her head and runs to catch up again.

"Alright, fine! I'll let you be my friend, okay? You don't have to be so rude... I was only kidding about not wanting you to be, anyways." The brunette states, strongly at first, but tapers off into sheepishness at the end.

Dango groans and starts walking a little faster. "Not intewested. Go bug someone else."

Rin matches her pace, then puts a hand on the cat girls shoulder. "Please?"

Dango keeps walking as she sighs. "No."

Rin's face starts to look slightly desperate at this point. "Come on, please? I really want to be your friend! Pretty please!?"

Dango stops with a tick mark forming on her head, then turns towards Rin. "For the last time, NO!" The bluenette yells in Rins face, a full on glare forced upon her face. "Now LEAVE ME ALONE!" Then Dango storms off, leaving Rin standing there in tears. She continues going towards the hospital while muttering about annoying girls and not needing 'fwiends'.

After about five minutes of walking, she finally steps inside the hospital, and walks up to the receptionist, who almost screams when she looks up. Said receptionist immediately calls an ER doctor due to the blood covering most of the right side of Dango's face and upper torso, right before the cat girl passes out and smashes her face on the counter, which is quickly followed by a long and painful trip down to the floor.

~Dango~~Dango~

Meanwhile, Rin is sitting in the snow crying where Dango left her. 'Why wouldn't she be friends with me? Am I too ugly? Or maybe she thinks I'm too needy? I shouldn't have begged her so much! Oh! I've got to go find her and apologize!' Rin sniffles and wipes her tears, then stands up and runs after the cat girl, following the fresh footprints in the snow.

~Dango~~Dango~

A pair of eyes barely open, only to quickly close again as one was met with a super bright whiteness. 'Ugh... What? My... My eye hurts... Otou-sa- Oh... I forgot... He chose that bean girl over me... I'll just have to get even stronger, so he sees that he made a mistake and takes me back! Step one, open my eyes!'

The eyes, belonging to Dango, slowly open again, this time fighting to stay open. As they adjust to the bright whiteness, she starts noticing details, all of them pointing towards her being in a hospital room. She slowly sits up, and then reaches to her blanket, only to discover that her depth perception is off as she hits her leg with her hand. That's when she realizes her right eye is covered in gauze. She reaches up and is about to take it off when she hears a noise coming from her blind side. She whips around, only to be met with the sleeping form of Nohara Rin sitting on a chair, snoring softly. With a confused gaze, Dango slowly gets up and shakes the girl, causing her to stir. She yawns and stretches, then looks at Dango and smiles. "You're awake."

"Why?" Dango asks with a frown.

Rin also frowns, then stands up. "Why what?"

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

Rin frowns and sits back down. "Well, at first I only followed you because I wanted to apologize for pestering you, but then I saw all the blood and I wanted to make sure you were okay. You are okay, right?"

Dango sighs, then looks around until she spots her clothes sitting on a counter on the other side of the room. She starts making her way over to them, while pulling off her hospital gown. Rin 'eeps' when she sees this and turns away.

"Ne, Dango-chan? Shouldn't you do that... You know, in private?" Rin says with a bright pink blush staining her cheeks while she suddenly finds a spot on the opposite wall to be extremely important.

Dango ignores her and begins the difficult task of dressing herself with messed up depth perception. After about nine minutes, she finishes, leaving her dressed in the same clothes she had on previously, although they seem to have been washed. "Hey. How long have I been here?"

"Uhm... Almost a week?" Rin answers while studiously trying to not look at Dango in case she was still naked.

Dango's only uncovered eye widens, then she suddenly appears in front of Rin, scaring the poor brunette badly, adding on a glare for good(read: bad) measure. "What do you mean a WEEK!?"

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both girls jump and turn towards the door, just noticing the dark haired man, around thirty years old, entering with a smile. Rin gasps and stands up, then bows slightly. "Hokage-sama! To what do we owe the honor?"

The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, chuckles and enters the room, shutting the door behind him. "I'm here to talk to the young lady here, Nohara-chan. Now, I need to speak with Dango about some important things. Do you want her to leave, Dango-chan?"

Dango looks at Sarutobi, then switches to Rin, then back to Sarutobi. "She can stay." She says in a quiet voice, ignoring the gasp from Rin. Sarutobi smiles, then sits down on the bed. Dango sighs and sits next to him. Hiruzen opens his mouth to ask a question, but is interrupted by Dango.

"I was Otou-sama's test subject for as long as I can wemember. He said he found me after my village got burned down by bandits. He was the cause of my... Unique-ness... I'm a failed attempt at something called a cuwsemark..." Dango said with a disappointed frown.

"And the weason he slashed my eye was because he gave me a Byakugan after I survived the Mokuton (wood release) jutsu experiment. He left me behind after he found a better appwentice... The bean girl..." She stated with a fierce, albeit one-eyed, glare at the ground with clenched fists.

Sarutobi frowns and puts a hand on her shoulder, then pulls her into a hug, ignoring the stiffening of her muscles. They stay that way for a few tense seconds, then Dango relaxes and starts literally purring into the Hokage's chest. Eventually the Hokage releases her, and she coughs and stares at her hands. "Sowwy... So... What happens now?"

"Well, Dango-chan... What do you want to happen?" Hiruzen asks with a gentle smile on his face.

Dango looks up from her hands with a determined expression on her face. "I want to become a ninja, but not just any ninja. I want to be the stwongest."

"I'm graduating the academy this year, so looks like we might see a lot more of each other, Dango-chan." Rin says with a blush, while the Hokage smiles knowingly.

"Well, that settles it then." Sarutobi says, causing both girls to look up at him in curiosity. "I'll have you enrolled in the academy. If you do well, you may even end up on a team with Rin-chan here." The Hokage smiles slightly pervertedly, but it's replaced with a cleaner version before either of them notice the nature of said smile, not that they would, what with their young ages.

"Slightly unorthodox to have two females, but not impossible. Especially with those eyes of yours, Dango. I expect great things from the bearer of a mythical Doujutsu like that."

Dango looks up at the Sarutobi with a frown. "You said eyes, as in plural. I only have one Byakugan, and it's destroyed..." The cat girl says with obvious confusion.

"Ah, no one has told you yet. Well, first of all, your Byakugan is fine, although we don't know if it still functions properly. The reason I said eyes is because you, my dear, have awakened a legendary doujutsu called the Rinnegan. No one since the Rikudo Sennin (Sage of Six Paths) has had this doujutsu, and it's abilities can only be guessed and speculated at. Why don't you take a look in that mirror over there?"

Dango stares at him for several seconds, then jumps up and runs to the mirror while tearing off the gauze. She's greeting by a strange sight. Everything is the same, except the eyes. Her left eye, the undamaged one, is solid purple with a pupil in the center and several concentric rings expanding outwards from it. On the inner most ring is a single tomoe above the pupil. The right eye is virtually the same, albeit it is blood red, with an angry looking gash going down the center, blocking the pupil and tomoe from being seen. The muscles around said eye are also distended, most likely influenced by the fact it used to be a Byakugan.

Dango turns back around and smiles at the Hokage. "That is so cool! I have a bloodline! I always thought I was just an owphan, but I'm a diwect decendant of the Wikudo Sennin!"

"So Orochimaru never told you about your Shakuton (burst release) kekkei genkai(bloodline limit)?" Hiruzen asks with a frown.

"Shakuton? I've never heard of that natuwe style..."

The Sarutobi chuckles. "That's because it's nearly extinct. Shakuton is a two-part nature kekkei genkai, mixing fire and wind into an explosive. I know of a few scrolls that can help you gain control of your elements, I'll have them brought over to you along with your academy books."

Dango smiles brightly, but then stops. "But wait... I don't have a place t-"

Rin interrupts her with a squeal. "You can stay with me, I've got a spare room! Oh, just imagine it! Me and you, roomates! We could stay up really late and tell each other secrets, and..."

Dango turns to the Hokage, completely ignoring Rin's rant about them being roomates, even though she said she had a spare room... "I would wather die." She states with absolure seriousness.

The Hokage frowns a bit, then shrugs. "I'll see what I can do. For now, we need to make sure you're fit for strenuous activity, because you start the academy next week!"

END!

So, how was it? You guys better be nice to me, yesterday (today, since I still haven't gone to sleep [backwards logic, I know... but still valid!]) was my birthday, so I expect good reviews, and constructive criticism! I want feedback! It helps me improve my writing, and who knows, maybe it'll motivate me? I mean, I have no plans to drop this anytime soon, but still... I'm not the most motivated person, so any pushes from you guys would help a lot. Anyways, this fic is basically swapping Kakashi with a short cat girl and then I threw Yamato and Nagato into the mixer for shits and giggles, although one of them *coughNagatocough* will still be in the story, because I don't want to have to re-think the whole Akatsuki plot... Too much work... *cough cough* For clarification, no, Dango will not be totally OP'ed... I'm going to try my best to make it believable as a Naruto off-shoot, so yeah. Also, I played around a little with the timeline to make it work, Anko is now as old as Kakashi and Gai, and Orochimaru left during the Third Shinobi war, not after, which would also make his place in the Sannin non-existant, because they earned that title towards the end of the war. Jiraiya and Tsunade will still hold said title, though. So, only two Sannin in this AU. Also, I'm not re-explaining or translating things every chapter, so brush up on your Romaji and japanese terms if you don't want to have to translate all the time... Okay, on to the only explanation in this chapter.

[1] Anko Mitarashi is named after a specific type of red sweet beans (Anko beans), usually the ones that are used in a red bean paste that is sometimes served with Dango (Go figure...), so when Dango says 'the bean girl' she's talking about Anko, also known as crazy snake lady.


	2. Team assignments and other shenanigans

New chapter! Yay! And since I totally forgot last chapter, here's double the disclaimer! Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Okay, enjoy!

'W-what? Where am I? W-what is this feeling? My... My arms... I can't move them... Or my legs... Ergh... Can't move anything! Come on, just open an eye! Come on, come on!'

"Ufufufufu... Easy there... Don't try to move just yet. Your entire body has undergone some... Changes... And you need to rest while your body gets acclimatized."

'O-otou-sama?! I'm back! It was all just a dream! But it seemed so real... The academy, Sandaime-sama, and Rin-teme...'

"Now, Dango-chan, see if you can open your eyes."

'I... I'll try...'

With an immense effort, Dango manages to crack an eye open slightly, then shuts it with an involuntary cry of pain, causing her to suddenly sit up and grab it. "It was just a dream." She says with a sigh as she releases her slashed eye and fists her hands into her blanket. "Damnit. I thought for sure it was real this time..."

Over the past year and a half, Dango has changed very little. She's still obsessed with Orochimaru, she still can't stand Rin, and she still hates the 'bean lady' with all her being for stealing her Otou-sama away from her. Her body remained the same, only her fur, nails, and whiskers growing at all. The most noticable change, however, is in her speech. She has gotten rid of her slurred 'R's' with a few weeks work and diligence. In those 1.5 years, Dango spent most of her time in the academy or the library, studying and learning jutsu and strategy. Rin however, seemed to spend her time solely on annoying Dango.

Rin supposedly stayed in the academy an extra year because she needed extra training to become a med-nin, but Dango suspects that she just wanted to annoy the cat girl more. Dango has taken to wearing a blindfold when in public so the civilians would stop looking at her eye, and it doubles as awareness training, which helps her senses, and she can eventually learn to occupy her time by reading and walking, which, in her mind, is the perfect way to learn more jutsu or tactics. Both Dango and Rin have passed the graduation exam this year, and are being assigned a team today.

Dango heaves another sigh, then opens her good eye and looks around her empty room. 'Same white walls, same blue dango blanket, same life-size picture of Rin that's way too close; I should really get rid of that; same dresser, same nightsta-... I'm such an idiot...'

"Hey Dango-chan! I made you some breakfast! How'd you sleep!? I slept amazingly! Are you ready to get our team assignments today!? I am! Oh, I hop-"

Dango reaches out and slaps her hand over the brunette's mouth. "Shut. Up." The cat girl says with a glower. "I'm going to pull my hand back, I don't want to hear a word. Understand?" The bluenette asks with her meanest glare, causing Rin to immediately nod. Dango pulls her hand away and wipes it off on the blanket.

"Okay, so how did you get in my house?" Dango asks while she climbs out of bed, pushing Rin away at the same time, stubbornly set on making sure she isn't reminded of her short stature by comparison.

"Ehehehe... Yeah, about that... I might have... Possibly... Broken your door..." The brunette says while scratching the back of her head.

"ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME!? THAT'S THE THIRD ONE THIS MONTH! DAMNIT RIN-TEME! I'M NOT MADE OF MONEY!" Dango yells with the patented 'giant head no jutsu' that all academy teachers are required to know, causing Rin to fly back into the wall with a thump from the force of the anime style yelling.

"I'm sorry!" She says with wide fearful eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't late today! And then I thought it would be nice to make you breakfast, because then it would be like I'm... Uh... Nevermind..."

"So you wanted to make sure that the only girl in the whole academy that has PERFECT ATTENDENCE gets to school on time?" Dango asks with no small amount of annoyance as she makes her way over to her dresser and grabs fresh clothes. She goes into her bathroom, then comes out within seconds already dressed in her ninja gear, which consists of a tight tan shirt with grey body armor strapped to it, a pair of black anbu-style pants that are tucked into a mis-matched pair of leather work boots; the left is black, the right is green. She has two pouches on each leg, one attached to the waist and one on the thigh, and two small scrolls sticking out of her left pocket. She also has a katana strapped to her back, handle down and to the left with the blade going passed her right shoulder both upward and to the side. To top it off, a shiny new leaf hitai ate with the green cloth is tied around her head and pulled down to cover her slashed eye. She stares at Rin for a second with her one good eye, then sniffs.

"You made dango." The bluenette anbu wannabe 'asks' without emotion.

"That's right! I know it's your favorite, and today is a special day, so I wanted your breakfast to be perfect!" The brunette says with a soft smile as she picks herself up off the floor and makes her way into the living room, a frowning cat girl following the whole way. As Rin tries to turn towards the kitchen, she feels a hand on her shoulder steering her towards the front door instead.

"Hey!" She says as she looks back. "The dango is in the kitchen, not outside!"

Dango stays silent and pushes her out the door, inadvertantly causing her to trip. The bluenette steps out silently and hops over the railing blocking the gap in the middle of the four flights of stairs that lead from her floor to the streets, landing silently on all fours and then standing up. Rin frowns, then gets up and runs after her the slow way, using the stairs, grumbling about 'mean friends not teaching her how to do cool stuff like that.'

After almost two minutes, Rin finally makes it down the last flight and stops next to an impatient, and now blindfolded completely by her hitai ate, Dango. The younger girl 'watches' as she leans down and braces herself on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"You need to work on your stamina." Dango says with a small amount of exasperation. Rin stands up and shoots her a half-hearted glare, then 'hmph's' and turns away. Dango raises her eyebrow even though Rin can't see it, then shrugs. "Whatever. If you want to get killed it's all on you. But don't come crying to me when it happens." With that, Dango makes her way outside and starts walking at a relaxed pace, with her hands in her pockets. Rin growls, then runs to catch up once again, a smile finding it's way onto her face while she does.

"So, where are we going?" Rin asked as she wraps her arm around Dango's shoulders in a friendly manner, avoiding the katana with practiced ease. "Ichiraku's." Was her gruffly succinct response.

"But what about the dango I made you? I worked all morning!" Rin questioned in a disappointed tone.

"I hate dango. Please remove your arm." The cat girl replied stiffly.

"You hate dango? But I see you eating it all the time!" Rin exclaims with suspicion, not even registering the second part.

"Ah, let me rephrase. I hate your dango, now remove your arm." The bluenette replied with a glare, still managing to make it seem threatening even with a blindfold.

"Oh, sorry. I always forget you don't like to be touched..." Rin apologizes sheepishly while removing her arm. "So, do you think we'll be on a team together!? Oh, I hope so! That just means we'll get to spend even more time together!" She says with a squeal.

"I sincerely hope not." The cat girl replies with a cool aloofness, ignoring the hurt expression on Rin's face, mainly because she can't see it. "Seeing you even more than I do now will likely make me go insane and murder everyone in the vacinity." She says, just rubbing even more salt on the wound. She turns towards Rin with a puzzled and slightly troubled look on the visible portion of her face. "Say, Rin-san? Why do you keep trying? I have told you outright that I don't need or want any friends, but you hang around me regardless. I have thought this over many times, but I still cannot find a suitable answer beyond masochism or stupidity, and I doubt either of those apply to you."

Rin forces a smile to hide her surprise and scratches her cheek in thought. "The harder something is to obtain, the better it is once you do. Besides, everyone needs at least one friend. Even if it's just someone to confide in and share your feelings with." Rin states with a surprising amount of wisdom for a thirteen year old girl. "And no matter what you say, I am your friend. If you thought otherwise you wouldn't tolerate my presence. Just because you don't see it yourself doesn't mean it isn't true." She states while putting her arm around Dango's shoulders again.

Dango 'looks' at her in thought, but says nothing. She shrugs off the arm and walks away, looking down while sorting through her jumbled mess of thoughts. Rin frowns and grabs her shoulder, bringing her to a stop. The cat girl turns and pulls the headband up with a frown, boring into Rin with her good eye. "What?" She asks with impatience, reverting to 'muscle memory' in favor of actually thinking.

"Why are you so opposed to having a friend?" Rin asks with as much force as she can muster.

"Friends hold you back. They only get in the way." Is the reply, said with a sneer.

"Hokage-sama has another theory. The only time we are truly strong is when we are fighting for someone close to us. Desperation and the need to protect our friends can allow us to go above and beyond what we are normally capable of." The brunette states with a caring smile. "That's what he calls the Will of Fire. It runs through nearly all Konoha shinobi. So let somebody in, okay? Just walk up to them and say 'hi'. See you in class, Dango." She turns around, missing Dango's unconscious wince at the lack of '-chan' on her name, then starts walking away. Dango remains standing there for a while, then fixes her blindfold and keeps walking towards Ichiraku's.

'Why did my chest hurt when she dropped the suffix? The only other time I felt that way was when Otou-sama left with the bean whore... Am I... Am I getting attached to her? Ugh... I need ramen...'

After about five minutes, Dango arrives at Ichiraku's ramen shop and sits at the stool on the very far right, against the wall as Teuchi Ichiraku comes out of the back room with a sack full of flour. "Ah, hey there Kitty-chan!" Teuchi says with exuberance, ignoring the horrible twitch from said cat girl at the nickname. "Haven't seen you in a while. Been busy with the academy?"

"Hai, Teuchi-san. I would prefer if you didn't call me that name. While my appearance may be felid in nature, I am 89% human. Therefore, you calling me 'Kitty-chan' is a misnomer, and an insult, by suggesting that I am of a lesser stature by being a partial feline." Dango says without emotion as she stares at the ramen chef blankly.

Teuchi just smiles and waves his hands in a 'whatever' gesture. "You know it's out of love, Kitty-chan. Besides, I happen to be rather fond of felines, so I don't see that as an insult, but rather a compliment. So, what'll you have? First one's on the house. Consider it a late graduation gift."

"Arigatou, Teuchi-san. I'll just have a miso. I have to get to the academy early so I can get my usual seat." Dango says with a polite, and very much forced, smile on her face. The ramen chef nods and turns, starting on the Miso ramen, while Dango stares at the wall in front of her with a frown.

'Now Teuchi-san is saying stuff about attachments too... But Teuchi-san is only a civilian... He wouldn't know about strength...' Just as she finished that thought, the flaps at the top of the entrance are pushed aside and a woman of average height with fiery red hair and a slightly round face wearing the typical Jonin uniform sits down one stool away from Dango with a desperate sounding yell of "I need ramen, Teuchi-kun! I just got back from a mission!" Causing the ramen chef to turn around with a smile while he continued to cook Dango's ramen.

"Ah, Kushina-chan! I was wondering what happened to my best customer! Just let me finish up on Kitty-chan's miso and I'll be right with you." Teuchi said happily before turning back around.

At the mention of someone else in the stand, Kushina looks to either side with a smile, but gasps and loses her cheerful disposition as she lays her eyes on Dango, covering her mouth and staring. Dango keeps staring at the wall, trying to ignore her, but finally snaps. "Keep staring and you won't have any eyes left to do so." She says without looking away from the wall.

Kushina starts and then smiles and scratches the back of her head. "Sorry, I was just surprised. You're just so..."

'Ah, here it comes. Horrifying? Demonic? Ghastly? Hideous?'

"Cute."

Silence.

"Come again?" Dango asks incredulously, having finally taken her blindfolded gaze off the wall in favor of leveling it at Kushina.

"Oh come on, you're adorable! The little cat ears, the fluffy tail, it's like you're straight out of a manga!" Kushina says energetically.

Dango opens and closes her mouth a few times, then turns away and stares at the wall without saying anything. Kushina frowns and then moves over to the stool next to Dango. "Hey, are you okay? I'm Kushina Uzumaki. You got a name?" The redhead says with a smile, but before she could get her answer, the cat girl's ramen was placed in front of her. Said cat girl grabbed the bowl and some chopsticks and quickly left with a quiet "Arigatou, Teuchi-san.", missing the frown that formed on Kushina's lips.

"Did she just skip out on the bill?"

"No, I gave it to her on the house." Teuchi replied with a chuckle. "She just graduated the academy last week. She's being assigned to a team today."

"Oh, I see. So, what's her story? And her name, for that matter." Kushina asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well, just about the only things I can tell you are that she eats like you do, and her name is Dango. She's a very private person." Teuchi states with a sad smile. "I try to get her to talk, but I usually get one word answers, if she even bothers to respond at all. I'm worried about that girl..." He states as the smile turns to a frown. He shakes his head and smiles at Kushina again. "Sorry about that, what'll you have?"

~Dango~~Dango~

"Alright class, SETTLE DOWN!" The instructor at the front of the room yells with the infamous big head no jutsu. The classroom is suddenly filled with silence as every kid starts paying attention. "Good. Now, I'd like to congratulate you all one more time on becoming shinobi of Konoha! Okay, as you can see, there are several Jonin standing up here with me, these will be your new senseis. I will read out the team and the sensei, you will stand when your name is called and follow your jonin sensei out. Now, Team 1...(Author style: skip unneccessary information no jutsu!) Team 7 will consist of Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and Dango. Your sensei is Minato Namikaze." A tall blonde man in a standard jonin uniform steps forward. "Alright, team 7. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." He then disappears in a yellow flash of light.

~Dango~~Dango~

The three students arrive on the roof at the same time. Dango stops as she opens the door and stares at the Blonde jonin, then makes her way over to him, Rin and Obito following. Obito is a young boy with black eyes and short spiky black hair. He wears a blue uniform and a blue jacket with an orange collar and the Uchiha clan crest on the back. He also wore a white belt, blue shinobi sandals, and a regular blue hitai ate. He is usually seen wearing a pair of goggles with orange lenses connected to a pair of ear protectors. Minato smiles and points to a bench at one end, so she moves over and sits down, with Rin and Obito flanking her on either side. Minato moves in front of them, then claps his hands together.

"Alright! First up, introductions. My name is Minato Namikaze, better known as the Kiiroi Senkou. I like having ramen with my fiancé Kushina, I dislike liars. My dream is to gain the village's respect by becoming the next Hokage. Alright, goggles, you're up."

"My name is Obito Uchiha. I like training, and I dislike snobs." Cue not so discreet glance at Dango. "My dream is to become Hokage so I will have recognition."

"Alright, now you Kitty-Kat."

"My name is Dango, NOT Kitty-Kat." Cue glare of doom through the blindfold. "I like learning new jutsu, I dislike everything else. I do not wish to tell you my dream."

"Okay... Uhm... Go ahead..."

"My name is Rin Nohara. I like spending time with friends, I dislike perverts. My dream is to be the best kunoichi I can be."

"Well... That went okay, I suppose. Alright, now it's time to take the real genin test." Minato says with an expressionless face, causing Rin and Obito to gasp.

"What!?" Rin cried out in shock. "I thought we already took the genin test!?"

"No, Rin-chan. That was to weed out the lost causes. The real genin test is much harder. Meet me at training ground 7 tomorrow morning at 6am. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll just throw it up." Minato says with a grin as he disappears in a flash of yellow light, leaving the three genin behind, two of which are freaking out.

"He's lying." Dango says as she gets up and starts walking to the edge of the building, lazily hopping up onto the railing. "Eat breakfast. No shinobi would ever go into a situation without the proper sustenence to keep their body in top physical condition unless they had no other choice." She turns towards the other two genin with a blank expression, then suddenly falls backwards and disappears.

~Dango~~Dango~

5am the following morning, and the sun is just starting to peek out over the horizon. A certain blue-furred cat girl is peacefully sleeping in her bed, snoring obnoxiously loud with a snot bubble coming out of her nose and somehow making it seem cute at the same time. Inevitably, the cuteness has to get interrupted. The interruption comes in the form of a knock at the door. The cat girl continues snoring away, then the knock sounds out again, louder than before, this time succeeding in waking the girl. She blearily opens her eye and groans.

"Damnit Rin... the one time you actually knock... Ugh..." she says while rubbing the sleep out of her eye. "It's open! You broke it yesterday, remember!?" She states with no small amount of anger in her voice while she gets up and goes into the bathroom, coming out in seconds dressed in her full ninja gear again, albeit with her hitai ate already covering both eyes instead of one. She makes her way into the kitchen, then stops and stares at the person standing by the door with a sniff.

"Ah... You aren't Rin..." Dango says stiffly. "How may I help you, stalker-san? Come to proclaim my 'cuteness' again?" The bluenette jabs with a very demented smirk. "Or maybe you intend to act on these feelings instead?" She states while putting her hands on her cheeks and feigning worry. "Should I be worried that you'll try to force your beastly urges on a young girl like me!? Oh my!" She exclaims with an uncanny likeness to a certain purple-haired landlady from a popular manga called 'Sekirei'.

The response she gets is not one she expects, mainly because there isn't one. The woman just stands there with a stunned look on her face. After several minutes of silence, Dango pulls up half of her hitai ate and stares at the girl with her one good eye. "Uhm... Stalker-san?" She says with an unsure look. The woman finally snaps out of it and scratches the back of her head with a sheepish grin that was big enough to force her eyes closed.

"Sorry, you surprised me. You acted just like a character from a manga I like to read occasionally. Anyways, my name is Kushina Uzumaki. I came to apologize for creeping you out yesterday." She says, then opens her eyes and holds out her hand in greeting.

Dango promptly ignores the hand and moves into the kitchen to make breakfast. "Ah. I wasn't creeped out. Anything else?" She states with a monotone voice, causing a frown to form on Kushina's face.

"Uh.. No, I suppose not. Teuchi-kun did mention you might need a friend though. How about I buy you some ramen at Ichiraku's later on?" Kushina says as the frown melts into a comforting smile.

"Pass. I have a team meeting to attend, and I do not know how long it will take." She says as she pulls the fridge door open and looks into it with a frown.

"Oh, alright. Well, I'm sure I'll see you around then. Don't be a stranger, okay? I'm never too busy for a friend." The redhead says with a smile, then walks out the door with a wave, leaving behind a very disconcerted bluenette.

'Why is everyone in this village trying to be friends with me? Rin, Teuchi, Sarutobi, Minato, and now her... I don't understand it...' She muses with an annoyed expression. 'I don't need any friends. They'll only hold me back.' She thinks heatedly as she grabs a left over plate of dango and scarfs it, then walks out the door while pulling her hitai ate down once more.

~Dango~~Dango~

At exactly 6am, Dango walks onto the designated training ground, spotting both her teamates and sensei waiting for her, all sitting by a trio of logs imbedded in the ground. Dango walks up behind the other two genin and pulls her hitai ate up on her good side, then proceeds to bore a hole into her sensei's face.

"Well, now that all of us are here, we can begin." Minato said while digging through his pocket. He pulls out two bells, then holds them up in front of the three genin. "You have to try to take these bells from me before lunch time. That gives you six hours." Minato says while ignoring the arm that shot into the air, courtesy of Rin. "If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will not succeed. Anyone who gets a bell passes. Be-"

"It's a teamwork excersize. You're trying to see if we could figure out that we were outmatched unless we worked as a team. The bells aren't even essential to the test, just a tool to try and force us to squabble amongst ourselves, which is the reason there are only two." Dango says with a bored look on her face as she pulls her headband back down and holds out her hand, missing the shocked look on her sensei's face. "Bells please."

Minato stares at her for a while, then sighs. "You could've played along, Dango-chan. It has the alternate purpose of showing what you three are capable of so I know what I have to teach you."

"I am capable of performing Shakuton ninjutsu because of my bloodline, along with a rather curious control over centralised areas of gravity. Obito has several Katon jutsu, and a possibility of awakening a sharingan eventually. Rin has some minor medical ninjutsu knowledge and decent aim with kunai. Can I leave now?" Dango says without changing her expression from one of boredom.

"No, Dango, you can't leave." Minato says with an exasperated sigh. "I need to see your talents. Now what did you mean when you said grav-"

"Shinra tensei." Dango says with her palm outstretched, and suddenly Minato goes flying backwards into a tree. Dango runs through a few one-handed handsigns and then brings her hand up to her mouth. "Shakuton: Kajosatsu! (Scorch release: Extremely steaming murder!)" A white fireball gets launched out of Dango's mouth, screaming straight towards where the blonde jonin landed. Both the other genin stare in awe at the firey projectile as it crashes into the tree and explodes, causing a good 10 feet of forest around the area to be destroyed, leaving a small crater. They shield their eyes from the bright light, then look back at Dango when it fades only to see Minato standing behind her looking as impressed as they felt.

"Okay, what the heck was that!? I didn't know you could do that, Dango-chan!" Rin yells with stars in her eyes. "That was so amazing! You have GOT to teach me that!" The brunette then proceeds to glomp Dango, only to be thwarted by a last minute kawarimi, Instead ending up glomping Kushina Uzumaki.

"Kushi-chan?" Minato asks with no small amount of surprise. "Why were you in training ground 7?"

Kushina sits up as the genin that tackled her jumps up in surprise, then frowns. "I was at Ichiraku's..." She says with a pout. "Who the hell brought me here? I'm gonna tear them apart when I get my hands on them! No one interrupts my ramen break!" The red-head yells with fire in her eyes.

"Uh... I think it was my student Dango Kitty-Kat. Although, I find it strange that someone as young as her was capable of using the kawarimi so efficiently. She either has absurdly enourmous chakra reserves, or she has absolutely perfect control. Maybe even both. She did manage to use an A-ranked Shakuton ninjutsu... Anyways, since Kushi-chan is here, I can use her as a sparring partner for you two so I can discern your abilities and skill sets. Rin! You're up first!"

~End~

Review please! Please? PLEASE!? Okay, enough being annoying. I'm friggen exhausted, so I'm going to sleep now. Peace out, biatch! Bakaneko-chan has left the building!


	3. Return of the Bean Girl and first C-rank

Italics are the voices on the radios! Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Team seven, check in." Minato says into a communicator hanging loosely around his neck. He is currently standing on a tree branch in an undisclosed, but heavily forested, location.

_"Googles in position. Waiting to spring the trap."_ Obito's voice rings out in the Jounin's ear.

_"Brownie in position. Target is directly below me."_ Rin's voice sounds out a moment later, followed by silence.

"Kitty-kat, do you copy?"

More silence.

"Dango?"

_"Yes, Minato-sensei?"_ The bluenette's voice sounds out with it's light rasp to it, made worse by the extreme amounts of static coming from her line.

"Dango, why is your line so scratchy, and why didn't you check in?"

_"I refuse to degrade myself any further by using that codename. As for the static, it's probably due to the distance between us. Mission accomplished, I have handed in the report. Subject, codename 'Tora', has been captured."_

"Rin, confirm target. Pink bow on left ear?" He asks with exasperation.

_"Negative, sensei. No pink bow."_

"Copy. Head back, Kitty-Kat has already completed the mission." Minato says, then pulls off the communicator and facepalms. He slowly drags his hand down his face, then sighs. "I swear, that girl is going to drive me insane." He groans, then vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

~Dango~~Dango~

"Dango-chan, you must work together with your teamates to complete these missions." The Hokage states sternly. "Not only does it bring you closer together, it also helps to teach you and your team how to efficiently work together." He explains as he grabs a scroll marked 'D' on the seal. Suddenly Minato appears behind Dango in a swirl of leaves with a frown on his face.

"Dango, I'm disappointed in you." Minato says in a slightly louder than normal voice. "Teamwork is the most important thing I can ever teach you. Even more important than your individual skills in most cases." He remarks as he moves in front of her and kneels to look into her blindfold.

"I don't need a team. Especially not for these glorified 'chores' you call D-rank missions." She says with a sneer. "I refuse to let my goals be pushed back any farther than necessary, Minato-sensei." The bluenette grinds out as she clenches her fist, then pulls up her hitai ate to bore into Minato with the mythical doujutsu of the Rikudou sennin, the Rinnegan. To further make her point, she forces her wounded eye open to enhance the glare. Said wounded eye still shows signs of massive irritation in the form of the 'whites' in between the rings being solid red as opposed to purple like the other one.

Minato pulls back slightly with a frown, then puts her hitai ate back down over her eyes with a small smile whilst ignoring her frown. "I admire your determination to achieve your goals, but having a team, or even just a few friends, would make that goal that much easier to accomplish." He states as he pats her head, making her scowl harder. Before she could react, however, they were interrupted by the two remaining genin from team seven entering through the door, both looking slightly winded, Rin admittedly more so than Obito.

"What the hell!?" He yells at Dango with a glare, causing Minato to stand up in slight shock at the normal passive Uchiha's unusual outburst. "We need practice in order to become good shinobi, you can't keep doing all the work yourself just because you think it will be faster!"

"Obviously I can or we wouldn't be having this conversation, Uchiha-san." The younger kunoichi states without turning around. "Now if you are quite finished, I have business to attend to elsewhere." She then spins around on her heel and walks out swiftly, pushing through the other two genin in the process.

All four occupants of the room stare at the door after she leaves, then Obito turns towards the two older shinobi. "Deal with whatever her issue is, or get me a new team." Then the Uchiha storms out too.

Rin looks to her sensei with worry, a fist clenched over her chest. "Minato-sensei... I don't want our team to split up..."

Minato smiles and ruffles her hair, ignoring the slightly annoyed expression on her face. "Don't worry, Rin-chan. I'll do everything I can to keep that from happening." He says as his smile turns more determined. "Now come on, let's go find Dango and see if we can help her out a little."

They both leave after bowing to Hiruzen and saying their goodbyes, and Rin leads them to the one place Dango always goes after a mission. Amaguriyama, the best dango shop in Konoha. As they get close, they hear several loud crashes and bangs, followed by an explosion coming from the direction of the shop. They share a look, then take off running.

Once they arrive, they're met with the sight of Dango chasing a girl with purple hair styled reminicent of a pineapple around the inside of the shop with her katana out. Said purple haired girl is around the same age as Rin, and quite a bit taller. She's dressed in a mesh body suit that goes from her neck down to mid-thigh, a loose black t-shirt, and some baggy brown cargo shorts. At the moment said girl is running around the inside of the shop with a look of total fear on her face, shouting plea's to random deitys for her life.

Faster than most can blink, Minato appears in front of Dango in mid-leap and catches her, slapping a small piece of paper on her forehead as he does so. Everything below her neck instantly goes limp, then she glares at him. He ignores her and turns towards the panting purple-ette with a disarming smile.

"Sorry about that, I don't know what got her so riled up. She's usually very well behaved." He says as he sets the catgirl on a table next to him.

The girl looks at him with suspicion for a moment, then relaxes with a smile while scratching the back of her head. "No problem." She states with a bit of laughter in her voice. "I'm just glad she didn't kill me." Minato nods, then turns to glare at Dango.

"Explain."

"She's with Ot-... Orochimaru. That's the bean whore I told Sandaime-sama about. Now let me go." She grinds out through mashed teeth, glaring daggers at the girl the whole time.

Upon hearing this, Minato frowns, then looks towards the purple haired girl. "Is this true?"

"It's a long story, and I don't remember most of it, on account of this little hickey here." She pulls her shirt collar down slightly, revealing a trio of tomoe on her skin with a fancy circle around it. "It's the upgraded version of what turned her all blue and furry. Hokage-jiji already sealed it up as best as he can, but there wasn't much he could do." She explains as she stares at the floor.

"Anyways, I used to be Orochimaru's student, but he just tossed me aside like trash after he was done with me. Some anbu found me wandering around just on this side of Nami no Kuni and brought me back. Now I want nothing more than to rip that slimy snake in half." She states with determination, clenching her fist hard enough to break the skin with her nails.

Minato nods, then turns to Dango again. "Are you going to try and kill..." Minato turns his head to the purple-ette. "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Anko Mitarashi."

"Minato Namikaze. A pleasure. Anyways." He turns back to Damgo. "Are you going to try and kill Anko-chan here?"

Dango doesn't respond, too busy staring at Anko in confusion. "What did you mean he threw you away?" She asks quietly, so much so that Anko almost doesn't hear.

"He said I outlived my usefullness and then abandoned me." She states with a frown, meeting the catgirl's gaze for the first time.

"... Me too..." She whispers, then turns to the blonde jonin and nods. As soon as the tag is peeled off her forehead, she pulls her hitai ate back down, then stands and walks out the door. She makes it to the corner of the block, then feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns around and sniffs to 'see' Anko standing there with a grin.

"Hey, you want to split a plate of dango? I figure us 'failed experiments' should stick together. Whaddya say?" She asks with some appropriately placed air quotes and enunciation to show dislike for the term. Dango pulls up half her hitai ate again and stares at her, then looks at the hand on her shoulder. She switches between it and Anko several times before finally focusing on Anko with a thoughtful frown on her face.

'She's just like me... Maybe I should let her in like everyone says? I... It won't hurt to try...'

"Ramen?" Dango says in an unsure voice as she tilts her head.

"Sure, I could go for some ramen." She answers with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure we're banned from that place for causing so much damage, anyways."

"Ah." Dango eloquently states with a sad expression.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure there's plenty of places to get dango in this village." Anko says with a shrug. Dango looks down, then sighs as Rin walks up behind Anko. As Dango looks back up, Rin gives her a thumbs up with a half-hearted smile, then turns to start walking away.

Before she could take more than a step, however, a hand grabs her sleeve. She looks down, then looks back at the owner of the hand in shock. Said owner looks just as shocked as her, staring down at the fur covered hand with furrowed brows. She looks up at Rin, then lets go with a cough. "Uhm... I... I-ichiraku's?" She asks with no small amount of embarassed stuttering. Rin, still speechless from shock, just nods. Anko looks between the two with no small amount of confusion, then shrugs. Dango suddenly turns on her heel and starts walking rapidly towards Ichiraku's ramen shop, making Anko shout and run after her with Rin following closely behind.

~Dango~~Dango~

"Alright team seven, we have our first C-rank mission!" A grinning Minato says to his students. They have gathered at the training ground they had their genin test at for their usual training and D-ranks, only to be surprised by the revelation that they have a C-rank. "We are going to escort a merchant to the border of Kaze no Kuni. We may encounter bandits, and there's a small chance of Suna Shinobi. There have been no reports of Iwa nin in the area, so we shouldn't have to worry about them. I expect it will take a little over a week, so pack accordingly. Meet at the West gate in one hour. Dismissed!" He states with authority, then disappears, leaving the three genin to themselves. Obito quickly leaves to pack with a quick 'see ya'.

"Hey, Dango-chan? I'm kinda nervous. This is my first time out of the village..." Rin says as she looks over at the blue catgirl. Said blue catgirl shrugs and pulls up her hitai ate.

"You have nothing to worry about. With me and Minato-sensei, I highly doubt anything will be able to get close enough to harm you." She remarks with arrogance, completely missing Rin's small blush as she turns around and starts walking towards her apartment.

"You just offered to protect me..."

This causes Dango to stop abruptly. "Ah... I suppose in a round about way I did... That's... That's what friends are supposed to do, is it not?" She says stiffly.

"Well, yeah... But you always say we aren't friends..." Rin voices quietly with a more pronounced blush on her face. Dango turns her head to the side and looks at Rin out of the corner of her eye, then shrugs and disappears in a swirl of fire. Rin stands there for a few seconds, then squeals and jumps up and down several times before she gets control of her emotions and walks off the training ground.

~Dango~~Dango~

"Alright, is everyone ready?" A certain blonde jounin asks when his three students arrive. His team's responses range from a quiet 'Hai, Minato-sensei.' To a loud 'Yes! We finally get to see some action!' Minato grins at everyone with a gleam in his eye. "Let's get moving! We have to meet our client in Tanzaku Gai tomorrow, so we need to hustle! Team seven, move out!" And with that he jumps into a nearby tree and takes off, followed quickly by three smaller blurs of different colors.

End

Well? Tell me how it was! Review!


	4. The Byakugan and some random giggling

Hey peeps, in a major hurry, only have about five minutes before I have to go back to work so I'll make it quick. Sorry for the wait and shortness and hope you enjoy. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

All is peaceful in the small metropolis that is Tanzaku Gai. The bars are full of happy shouting, the casinos are filled with mostly entertained gamblers, and Tanzaku castle is standing tall as always, a sign of prosperity and wealth.

"Taki! Hurry up! We need to find this guy before the ninja he hired make it here!" Says a gruff voice as a man in his thirties steps out of the shadows on one of the walls of the ostentatiously large complex of buildings that makes up the famous Tanzaku land mark. The man is average height and build, with messy brown hair and dull grey eyes. He is currently wearing a solid grey kimono with a pair of geta sandals on his sock-covered feet. On his forehead is a hitai ate with an engraving that looks slightly reminiscent of a lowercase 'i', the mark of Iwagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the stones. He is quickly joined by a slightly shorter woman with long blonde hair and a matching kimono.

"Hai, Kagari-sensei." She states with a mellow, almost bored tone as she stares at him with a look that would be more suited to signify sleepiness than awareness; I.E. drooping eyes and a glazed over expression.

Kagari Ikasujii, known by most as the Oni no Iwa, or the Demon of the Rock, is a B-rank Jounin level Iwa shinobi known for his utter ruthlessness, more often than not returning to Iwa covered in someone else's blood. He revels in the thrill of battle, often times attacking random ninja without provocation just to test his strength.

His student, Taki Hibaware, is a rather sedate ninja, oftentimes acting reminiscent of the Nara clan in their eternal laziness. The differences, besides the obvious physical ones, are that she takes laziness to a whole new level. Taki finds even the most basic tasks, such as keeping her eyes open, to be too 'troublesome'. One would wonder how she became a shinobi, but like most of the Nara, she has one of the greatest tactical minds in the whole elemental nations, rivaling even that of the Sandaime Hokage, who is known for being 'the Professor' for his knowledge and tactical know-how. At least when she deems something important enough to actually use her vast intellect.

"Lead the way, sensei." She states with a large yawn as she stuffs her hands in the front folds of her kimono to act as pockets. They both disappear in a blur of motion a few seconds later.

~Dango~~Dango~

Just outside Tanzaku Gai, four blurs burst out of the treetops and land on the cliff over-looking the busy gambling town. The tallest of the four, Minato Namikaze, turns and smiles at the three genin accompanying him. "Great job guys, now let's go find our client, then find somewhere to sleep tonight. Dango, do you see any possible opposition?"

Said bluenette looks at him strangely from her uncovered eye. "How would I know? I don't have my Byakugan anymore. No more chakra detection." She states with a huff.

"Have you even tried to use it yet?" He asks with a tilt of his head.

"Uhh... I... actually never learned how to..." She states with what could be considered a blush, judging by the embarrassed posture.

"Well, from what I understand, you just channel some chakra to your eyes. Try it."

"Hai, sensei." Dango stands still for a few seconds, then the veins around her covered eye distend, going all the way up passed her forehead and into her 'hairline' and all the way down to her chin, and she gasps and falls over grabbing at her eye patch.

"Dango!" Minato yells as he jumps over to her and starts reaching for her hands, but stops when she sighs and pushes him away, standing up in the process.

"Dango-chan? Are you okay?" Rin asks in a slightly shaky voice as she puts a hand on the cat girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Minato-sensei, I see twelve chakra signatures that are big enough to be ninjas, three Jounin or higher, several chunin, and a couple could be genin, maybe just abnormal civilians. One of the Jounin has a monstrous affinity for Earth, likely an Iwa shinobi, and he's travelling with one of the chunin signatures, who has an affinity for either water or wind. They're tailing someone with almost no chakra, so most likely it's being suppressed. Is our client a ninja?" She states while staring at the town.

"You can tell what chakra affinity they have!? How?" The brown haired Uchiha asks with no small amount of surprise and envy.

"The color of their chakra cores. The assumed Iwa shinobi has a very big brown shadow over it, leading me to believe he has a large Earth affinity. The other is blue-ish, so that could be wind or water, not entirely sure. What's your primary affinity, Minato-sensei?" She asks as she stares at his stomach in thought.

"Uh... Wind."

"Ah. The chunin has a water affinity then. And that means Rin also has water affinity. Obito's is fire, judging by the red." She states in a neutral tone. After a few seconds of standing there, Rin finally breaks them out of their shocked states by attempting to glomp Dango with a yell of "That's so COOL!" She is foiled with a last minute kawarimi, and instead smashing her face into a newly uprooted tree.

"Mou, Dango-chaaaaaannnn..." She groans as she gets up and rubs her nose.

"Anyways..." Minato says with a cough. "We should probably go. If Dango was right, our client is being tailed by Iwa shinobi. Let's move! Dango, up front! Watch for possible ambushes, and notify me if you need to rest your eyes. Understood?"

"Hai, Minato-sensei!"

~Dango~~Dango~

"Kagari-sensei, four people are tailing the target. Leaf hitai ate." Taki states with her usual bored tone, with the customary yawn thrown in after 'four'.

"I don't care about a few leaf shinobi, ignore them." He states in a gruff voice.

"Kagari-sensei, one of them matches HIS description." She states more seriously than before. Kagari immediately stops and turns, spotting the blonde haired Jounin easily.

"Namikaze... Taki, new plan. Go after the brats. The Jounin is mine." He states with a bloodthirsty grin.

"But Kagari-sensei, what about the tar-"

"Forget the target! Get those genin out of my way!" He yells in her face, then turns and charges at the Yellow Flash with a loud battle cry. Taki sighs, and then disappears in a plume of smoke.

~Dango~~Dango~

"Die, Namikaze!" Suddenly Kagari appears in front of the team and tackles Minato, sending both flying through a nearby storefront window. As the three genin turn to see if their sensei is still alive, Taki appears in another plume of smoke.

"Let's get this over with so I can go take a nap..." she states, startling the members of team seven. All three of them spin around, two of them holding kunai, while the third speeds through a few hand seals, only to stop when they notice the girl has disappeared, and in her place is a large blanket of mist, which slowly covers the whole street.

"This mist is completely filled with her chakra, I can't see through it. Anyone see where she went?" The bluenette genin says as the distended veins on her face recede. She receives no answer, prompting her to look at the other two members of team seven, only to realize they are both gone.

"Rin? Obito?" She asks to the blank whiteness, getting no reply which causes her to frown. She reaches back and puts her hand on her katana handle, then pulls her headband down with her other hand. She slowly draws her katana and brings it around in a lefty reverse grip, holding it diagonally in front of her chest as she sniffs the air.

"So little Miss Neko has some big claws. Let's see if you know how to use them." Taki states as she materializes in front of Dango with a kunai in hand.

"What did you do with my teammates?" Dango asks with a snarl.

"I don't feel like telling you." Taki states with a bored tone as she lowers herself into a stance.

Dango starts growling, then shifts her footing slightly and blasts towards the Iwa Nin with a burst of chakra. "I'll kill you!"

~Dango~~Dango~

A calm Minato and a sneering Kagari are standing a few feet apart in a completely destroyed section of the city. Kagari is drowning in sweat and nearly hyperventilating, while Minato is only sweating slightly.

"You're good, Namikaze... I see why you have a flee on sight order..." Kagari states while he catches his breath. Minato just shrugs and pulls out a tri-bladed kunai. They stare at each other for a few seconds more, and then both disappear in a burst of speed. A loud clang and a squelch sound out, and they both appear in the middle, with a tri-bladed kunai stuck through the Iwa Nin's stomach and sticking out of his back, severing his spine.

"I'm sorry. I have to save my students." Minato says with remorse, then removes his arm from the now paralyzed man's torso and disappears in a flash of yellow.

~Dango~~Dango~

"Stop moving!" A certain bluenette snarls as she speeds through several one-handed seals, and then puts her hand up to her mouth.

"Shakuton: Kajōsatsu!" She shouts as she launches a white fireball at the Iwa kunoichi. Said kunoichi dodges to the left, then gasps and ducks to avoid the bluenette's katana. Dango continues to press the advantage, keeping Taki on the defensive with several fast swings of her katana, which are all deflected or dodged by the blonde woman. After a particularly vicious swing, the young cat girl over-extends and promptly gets a broken nose courtesy of the butt of the Iwa kunoichi's kunai. The Iwa kunoichi jumps back several meters while the bluenette simply falls on her face.

"Now that your troublesome nose is out of the picture, you'll have to rely on sight, which gives me the advantage. Give up now and I'll only knock you unconscious like the other two." The Iwa kunoichi states with her usual bored tone. Her response is the Leaf kunoichi lifting her head and pulling up her headband.

"Hehe, hi pretty blondie..." She says with a particularly uncharacteristically happy grin.

"Great, I hit her so hard she turned stupid..." The Iwa kunoichi says as she stuffs her hands in the folds of her kimono. "Well, I guess I should ju-oof!"

"More blondies! Yay!" The bluenette states while Minato Namikaze picks up the now unconscious Iwa Kunoichi.

"Dango, where's the rest of the team?" He inquires with a serious voice. His serious voice is met with a round of fairly child-like giggles from his most enigmatic student. "Uhm... Dango?" He asks, this time in a more curious tone. Cue more giggles. "Dango!" Outright laughter. "Stop laughing and tell me where your teammates are!" Literal rolling on the ground while grabbing her stomach from laughing too hard. After several frustrating minutes of this, the blonde Jounin finally manages to get her to respond.

"You-haha! You look like-ahahahah! You look like a chicken! Bwahahahahahahah!"

Cue massive sweat drop from a certain blonde Namikaze.

End

Don't forget to review! Also, if you don't understand a term, just ask. no time to put up any explanations. Ja ne!


End file.
